Media Release RESIDENTS MUST BE FIRST TO KNOW OF FLOOD MAP CHANGES

BRISBANE City Council Opposition Leader Councillor Peter Cumming has called on Lord Mayor Graham Quirk to immediately write to the 4500 households impacted by updated flood maps.

“We don’t need a repeat of last year’s fiasco when Quirk and the LNP failed to notify the 5000 Brisbane residents whose homes had been added to the “at risk” list for flooding,” Councillor Cumming said.

“The first thing many residents knew anything about it was when they received their insurance renewal or when they had a property sale fall through because a flood search came up as ‘high risk’.

“Many people included on the map had never flooded, not even in 1974, yet others with a history of flooding had their risk reduced. The process needs to be more transparent and consultative.”

Nundah resident Kathy Ran said she had no faith in the council’s flood mapping process, after her flood risk was reduced in the last mapping exercise.

“I don’t know what they are based on, the infill development around Nundah has caused worse flooding in an already flood-prone area,” Ms Ran said.

“At the very least, council should be letting property owners know where they stand, before the information is released to the public.”

Cr Cumming said while the report was coming to Tuesday’s council meeting, the information would be online on September 9.

“Quirk must ensure that residents are informed of their new flood risk status, particularly the 750 that are now ‘at risk’, before that information goes live,” he said.

“Many affected residents have been waiting a year for this correction, after their properties, which had never flooded, were included on last year’s flood map.

“It’s appalling that council has taken this long to fix these mapping errors. The least Quirk could do is make sure residents are notified first.”